EU gender clash on work-sharing

SOMEONE isn't telling the truth. Asked if they share domestic chores with their partner, 25 per cent of European women say they share them 50-50 with their partners, while over 30 per cent of men are convinced there is an even distribution of the work. The gap of perception is even wider in Ireland, at 8 per cent and Britain at 14 per cent.

Women from the former East Germany find their menfolk most co-operative (40 per cent sharing the housekeeping equally), while the Spanish men (at 12 per cent) have the most catching up to do.

The figures emerge from a wide-ranging Eurobarometer survey of male and female attitudes to equality published yesterday by the European Commission to mark International Women's Day tomorrow. The survey was unveiled with the Commission's first annual report on equality of opportunities by the Commissioner for Social Affairs, Mr Padraig Flynn.

Mr Flynn said the report underlined the reality that although women had increased their involvement in the workforce they still are over-represented among the low-paid, the part-time and the unemployed and are paid on average 20 per cent less than men. Over 70 per cent of women worked in the lower-paid service sector.

He noted that the survey found that 34 per cent of women in the EU said they were not aware of the existence of anti-discrimination legislation and a further 11 per cent denied it existed. A key priority must be, he said, to raise the level of awareness of women of their rights.

Asked if they were satisfied with their lives two-thirds of Danish women say "very", followed down the satisfaction league by the Dutch, the Austrian and the Irish (45 per cent). The Italians (15 per cent) are the most miserable.

Overall, roughly equal numbers - 61 per cent - of men and women agree that if work is in short supply, men should not have priority. But if the question is posed country by country, a wide range of views emerges: from the 10 per cent of Swedes, Danes and Finns who disagree to the 57 per cent of Greeks who think men should have priority. Irish men and women divide 40-30 on the issue.

Striking differences emerge between men and women in Ireland on their perceptions of women's chances in the workplace - typically, while 60 per cent of men believe women are equally well placed to get positions of responsibility, only 40 per cent of women believe it.

Irish women and men are among the most sceptical in Europe - one third supporting - of the propositions that equality strengthens democracy, is good for personal development, or improves personal relations.